Google`s purchase of online video sharing site YouTube means the Web 2.0 revolution is well under way, leaving the US search engine giant`s competition, mainly Yahoo and Microsoft, reeling, says Vinny Lingham, chief strategy officer of incuBeta.
"The word on the street in the US technology hub of Silicon Valley is Yahoo and MSN (Microsoft Network) lack leadership and decisiveness in understanding Web 2.0 and are not making the right strides forward," says Lingham.
He is there on a visit to promote his Cape Town-based company`s "Synthasite" Web 2.0 platform.
"Google will continue to win over advertisers as it has a better focus on monetisation of adverts placed by advertisers," Lingham says.
Yesterday, Google announced that it would buy YouTube for $1.6 billion (about R8.2 billion) in a share deal where the YouTube owners would receive the transaction proceeds in Google shares.
"This indicates that the YouTube owners believe there is a lot of value still in the Google share price, which is sitting on about $400," Lingham says.
IPTV
Jeff Fletcher, a Web 2.0 product specialist at Internet Solutions, says the implication of the sale is that Google is buying YouTube for its "eyeballs" - the people who view it - and that it is part of a push to move audiences away from traditional TV to viewing things on the Internet.
Fletcher says Web 2.0 is a term that is often used for Internet sites that turn a browser into an application rather than the presentation medium that most have become used to.
"Web 2.0 is really a series of technologies that enable sites to deliver services, but content is key to the whole experience," Fletcher says.
He feels Google`s purchase of YouTube is just part of its overall strategy to dominate content over the Internet.
"It has bought a lot of real estate in New York to develop a very large server farm and is purchasing dark (unlit) fibre and the speculation is Google wants to create its own version of the Internet," he says.
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